Day Retreat

 Vitality in Stillness and Motion

“The fastest way to still the mind is to move the body...There is no way out, but through the body.” Gabrielle Roth

Two Streamings Across the Doorsill

An exploration of  Nirvana and Samsara, taking images from Rumi as a springboard.

Vajradarshini is known for her creative approach to dharma and meditation.  Here's her current website: Red Ladder Studio: Where Dharma Meets Art.  We're very happy to have us visit again, this time through zoom.  Here's what she says: 

I have an idea of a theme that I’d like you to help me explore - 

Saturday and Sunday June 13 and 14, 9am-12pm both days

Abiding in Peace, Here and Now, with Bodhipaksha

Following a transformative retreat in April, Bodhipaksa will introduce further radical yet simple approaches to meditation that allow experiences of peace, joy, and calmness to unfold effortlessly within us. These tools are accessible regardless of whether or not you attended his first retreat.

Body - Heart - Love

Metta is unconditional and, ultimately, unconditioned love. Even though we learn to cultivate metta through phrases and imagination, it is by nature a quality or expression of our whole being. If we open to metta through the 'aliveness' of our body and heart (soma) it opens out and finds its true nature and home. We'll explore this, in practice, during this Saturday morning.

Join Seattle Buddhist Center for this Day Retreat with Bodhipaksha.

Dhyana is a state of “flow” in which meditation becomes effortless.

On this retreat Bodhipaksa will break down the components of the dhyana experience and introduce a step-by-step approach to cultivating it. You may not experience dhyana on this retreat, but you’ll certainly move in that direction and come away with a whole new bunch of meditation skills.

The Myth of Meditation: Restoring Imaginal Ground through Embodied Buddhist Practice

Join us for a special morning meditation with Paramananda - joining us all the way from London.  

Paramananda was instrumental in getting the San Francisco Buddhist Center started back in the 90s and was our Chair until 2001, when he returned to the UK.  

Many Suttas in Buddhism  show the Buddha quietly and beautifully guiding his followers towards real tranquility and wisdom through awareness of the body.  As part of our "Simply Practice" theme this month and year, Prasadachitta will explore with us the power of simply paying attention to the senses. 

A spacious, mostly silent morning of meditation – walking, sitting, and lying down. Open to anyone with some meditation experience. 

We’ll also have an opportunity at the end for those who wish to share what we’ve learned and ask questions.

A Day Retreat with Special Guest, Aryajaya, from the UK

What does Buddhist practice have to say about being human? Using the traditional Buddhist teaching of the Wheel of Life this day retreat will explore the advantages and opportunities of being in the mental states of the human realm. We'll meditate, reflect, discuss and maybe answer the question by the poet Mary Oliver, 'What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious human life?'

During this daylong workshop Acarasiddhi will share ways to connect with our natural creativity through writing.  

The workshop will be positive, friendly, encouraging and productive, with helpful and inspiring writing exercises to get us started, and reflections on the link between words and practice. 

No writing or any other experience required. Bring your curiosity and your favorite writing tools (although pens and paper will also be available if you need them).